“He wouldn’t care if you hadn’t made some sort of a botch—­”

“I?  A botch?  Say, don’t you believe what he tells you, because it isn’t true!”

“Well, he says—­”

“I don’t care what he says.  I didn’t do the job, and I am not going to let him shift the responsibility on my shoulders.  He’s a fool.  Don’t everybody think the girl is guilty, and if they clear her isn’t there another string to the bow?”

“You mean Tom Ostrello?”

“That’s it.  So he told you about that, too,” came from the secret service man bitterly.  “Well, he isn’t the man I thought he was.  I suppose he has gone and blabbed right and left.”

“Only to the band.  We knew something was on the carpet and we cornered him and then he had to speak.  Why, one of the New York detectives found our place under the old mill, and we had to do him, to keep the thing a secret.”

“You got him out of the way?”

“Yes.”

“Did Styles do that job?”

“No.  We had to draw lots.  I ain’t saying who drew the red ball.”

“Maybe you drew it yourself.”

“Maybe I did and maybe I didn’t.  What I want to know is:  What are we to do?  The crowd don’t like Styles much, and I can tell you confidentially, that for two pins we would throw him over—­that is, if you will stand by us.”

“You want to elect a new leader?”

“Yes.  But with the understanding that the crowd is to be let in on the ground floor after this.  No more working in the dark.  Even yet we don’t know why those murders were committed, and yet it looks as if all of us might suffer, unless you pull us through O.K.”

“Didn’t Styles tell you why?”

“No, although he hinted at something.”

“Well, I’ll tell you, Pink, and you can tell the rest.  Barry Langmore had some dealings with Styles about patents and mortgages.  One day Styles drank a little too much, and went to Langmore to pay a bill.  He had two packages of money with him, each for several thousand dollars.  One package was good money and the other was our own brand.  Styles also had some loose bills with him.  He paid part of a mortgage and also something on an invention.  When he went away, he saw that he had made a mistake and given Langmore the counterfeit bills.  He went back the next day, but Langmore had gone away, on a short vacation.  When he came back Styles went to him and they had a pretty stormy scene.  Langmore had tried to pass a bill, and learned it was a counterfeit.  Styles pretended that he didn’t know the money was bad, but Langmore wouldn’t believe him.  Some of the money had gone to Mrs. Langmore, too.  Styles begged to get the money back and offered Langmore his rights in an invention if only Langmore would keep quiet.  Langmore said he would think it over, but I am inclined to think he communicated with the police instead, although I have no proof.  Anyway, we made up our minds that Langmore knew too much, and so did his wife.  Then—­well, they were found dead, that’s all.”